Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies

Philosophy

Philosophy is the process of thinking rationally and critically about the most basic and important questions of life: what gives life meaning, what is ultimately real, what is the character of value or ethics, how do I distinguish knowledge from the varying opinions of what people claim to be true, what constitutes sound reasoning?

Religion

Religious Studies utilizes the insights and methods of such diverse fields as literary criticism, linguistics, iconography, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and history in order to analyze and explore the essential character of the religious dimension of life, especially the various ways in which religious experience has been or is understood and expressed in the world. No religious or irreligious beliefs are required in such study.